Diversity, Equality and Inclusion November Blog: Why promoting diversity should be a no-brainer for businesses (part 1)

I started to look seriously into equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the water sector when I noticed some people’s expectations of me within and outside the workplace change after I became a mother. I struggled with unspoken expectations that I didn’t initially realise I needed to address.?Some people assumed, for example, that I would want career to take a back seat for a while but hadn’t thought to ask my opinion. ?I’d previously had the luxury of being somewhat blind to career-limiting assumptions or biases about anyone who is “different” from stereotypical norms and I wanted to put that right.

The sector I was in (management consulting) was haemorrhaging diverse talent from junior and middle managers leaving.?People got stuck because unconscious bias worked against them or were deterred from applying for jobs if the brand or role wasn’t relatable.?My employer’s Board saw this as a problem because they wanted to relate to diverse clients and gain the innovation benefits that come from having a diverse workforce.?The same applies in water – we provide an essential service to everyone and are in desperate need of innovative solutions to resolve the current and future challenges we face.?

It’s one that the sector is starting to address, for example the work Thames Water is doing to word job adverts in a way that will be compelling to a wider set of candidates.?

Failing to look past personal or organisational biases (conscious or unconscious) could lead to us missing out on diversity of thought, ideas and creativity.?For example, understanding different cultural attitudes to water it makes it easier to tailor services to the diverse communities we serve.?Our regulators and Government are asking the water sector to think much more creatively about partnership working and nature based solutions.?Embracing this will mean a significant change to the water sector’s business model and will need a much broader, diverse skillset.

Beyond work, society misses out on contributions from people stereotyped as breadwinners, and they in turn may miss out on living a more purposeful life.?Although I think this is slowly changing, it can be hard to volunteer, follow your callings or reap the benefits that family and local community can bring if you’re working long hours.?Stereotypical breadwinners may discount (or even fail to notice) an impact until they are released full time into society on retirement, can sometimes struggle to find their place and may even find they are subject to unconscious bias related to age.

I’ll leave you with two questions that sum up my vision for diversity in the water sector:

·???????Wouldn’t it be great if water company employee bases looked more like their customer bases and solutions to customers’ problems were designed from a position of deeply understanding the whole population’s life experiences??

·???????Wouldn’t work be a lot more fun if people from lots of different backgrounds could feel safe to bring interesting and different ideas, work together to solve difficult problems (and maybe have time left over to make society work better for the next generation)?